Wyoming has so many roadside signs and shops advertising it that the city's Downtown Development Authority is exploring regulations to limit the so-called "payday" lenders on 28th Street SW. A possible rule of thumb would require stores be no closer than 500 or 1,000 feet.

There are eight state-licensed cash stores on 28th Street SW in Wyoming, and five are in the half-mile between Michael and Clyde Park avenues.

"It's not so much the use (that's a problem); it's the connotation of having them so densely situated in any one particular area," said Douglas Kochneff, DDA chairman and owner of Action Tire Center at 841 28th St. SW, next to Instant Cash Advance.

"Any time you have a use that signifies some kind of a blighted area or a depressed area, you want to take a look at it."

Down the road about 250 feet from Instant Cash Advance is Approved Cash Advance. About 1,000 feet in the other direction is Cash 'n' Advance, and across the street from that one in Rogers Plaza Town Center is Allied Cash Advance.

The Cash Store, Check into Cash and Check 'n' Go Cash Advance are among the other payday lenders nearby.

Regulated by the state since 2006, the stores loan up to $600 for a fee of up to 15 percent of the amount borrowed. The annual percentage rates on a 14-day cash advance can exceed 400 percent.

"I think in the minds of some people, they give the impression of taking advantage of people with high interest rates," said Gerald Mears, city planning and development director. "They appear as a detriment to an area, as an indication of problems in the commercial area.

"At the same time, they perform a service that people who use it consider an important service. We have mixed feelings about it."

Steve Leach, chief executive officer of Grand Rapids-based Instant Cash Advance, said 45 percent of his customers are homeowners, and the average household income exceeds $50,000. Clientele will regulate the industry through the free market, he said.

"At least one's going out (of business), and I would suspect we'd lose two or three more," Leach said. "Every industry goes through a consolidation phase, and that's where this one is now.

"We'll see over the next 10 years those (service fees) will continue to decline. Let them walk from one to the other and compare."

Leach said high traffic and a blue-collar populace make 28th Street SW an attractive spot for cash stores.

Of the 45 cash stores licensed by the state in Kent County, all but 10 of them are on South Division Avenue, Alpine Avenue NW, Lake Michigan Drive NW, Plainfield Avenue NE, 28th Street SW or 28th Street SE.

There are 13 licensed cash stores in Ottawa County, primarily in the Lakeshore, with two in Georgetown Township.